Big Bill Broonzy was a much more versatile musician than most people realize. He started out doing country blues, then later he slid into a more uptown urban blues niche, and when the blues and folk boom hit in the early '60s, he went down-home country blues again. But in between, Broonzy was actually one of the earliest purveyors of the hard Chicago blues style, which is the window this 27-track set looks through, and it will be a revelation for those who only know Broonzy in his later incarnations.